Veteran sportswriter and high school football expert Robert Wilson is doing the Priority One Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard predictions column each week during the high school football season on teams from Hinds, Madison, and Rankin County. Wilson had a 21-8 record (72.4 percent) last week and has an 104-28 record (78.8 percent) this season.
Germantown (3-1) at Pearl (2-2), Friday 7 p.m. (watch and listen at Germantownathletics.com and cityofpearl.com/pmbtv-20).
Germantown is chasing history, searching for its first winning season since joining MHSAA’s largest class in 2019, then 6A and now in its second year of 7A.
The Mavericks checked off one historic win earlier this season when they defeated Northwest Rankin 46-21 for the first time in six meetings in the season opener for both teams.
Now, Germantown will try to have another first against a Rankin County Class 7A opponent.
The Mavericks are 0-3 against Pearl, losing 44-28 last season, 54-34 in 2014, and 54-24 in 2013 (both of those were district games in Class 5A, Region 2).
Germantown is off to its best start when 2021 when it won its first three games before going on a three-game losing skid.
The Mavericks are trying to avoid repeating that.
Germantown returns 10 starters from last year’s team which finished 5-6, finished tied for second in Class 7A, Region 2 and lost to Oxford 47-44 in the first round of the playoffs.
The Mavs are led by senior wide receiver and South Alabama commitment Trae Stevenson, a member of the Performance Therapy/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Elite 11 Team who set single season school records with 49 receptions for 869 yards and eight touchdowns. Stevenson is rated No. 36 and the fourth highest wide receiver in Mississippi in the Class of 2025 by 247 Sports. Also back is senior running back Ny Johnson, who had 1,072 rushing and receiving yards and 16 touchdowns last season and rising senior tackle Ryan White Jr.
Stevenson has caught 16 passes for 323 yards and three TDs this season. Johnson has 244 rushing yards on 42 carries and three TDs.
Junior quarterback King White and junior wide receiver Keyshaun Coleman, both transfers from Madison St. Joseph, have made big contributions. White has completed 59.3 of his passes for 842 yards and six TDs and ran for 248 yards on 32 carries and three TDs. Coleman has caught 16 passes for 192 yards and one TD.
White completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,829 and 21 TDs and only seven interceptions last year as a sophomore at St. Joe.
The top returnees on defense are two seniors, cornerback Tiger Esco and inside linebacker Banks Polk, and junior nose guard Dillion Travis.
Another addition is talented Mikey Johnson, a junior who transferred from Vicksburg High and has immediate impact for Germantown at defensive back. His father, Trey Johnson played pro basketball and was also selected in the Major League Baseball draft out of high school. He is now assistant men’s basketball coach at Jackson State.
Germantown’s Russell Mitchell is in his third season as head coach. He has been a part of a state or national championship team in seven of his 21 seasons of being a coach. Not many coaches in Mississippi can say that.
Mitchell was the quarterback coach at Pearl River Community College in 2004 when they won the national junior college championship. He was also the quarterback coach at Pearl River Community College for four consecutive state titles from 2003-2006. Mitchell was the offensive coordinator for Picayune High when they won the MHSAA Class 5A state title in 2011 and 2013. He was the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach on Oak Grove’s MHSAA Class 6A state title team in 2020. Mitchell was at Oak Grove for six seasons.
Patrick Schooler is in his first year at Pearl, replacing Justin Hunter. The Hatley High, Itawamba CC and Delta State alumnus is his 21stseason as a coach, 12th as a head coach. He was a head coach at his alma mater Hatley for three seasons and at Neshoba Central for the last eight years before coming to Pearl. Schooler was also an assistant at Noxapater for three years, Aberdeen for five years (two state runner-up finishes), and Amory for one year.
Pearl’s returning starting quarterback, junior Jack Durr, suffered an ACL injury in July and is out for the season. Durr passed for 2,361 yards and 16 TDs last season as a sophomore. Durr’s backup, senior Dylan Story, had a high ankle sprain against Warren Central three weeks ago and could be back next week against Northwest Rankin. But for the Germantown game, Pearl’s third-string quarterback, sophomore Peyton Parks, is the starter.
Pearl’s top players on defense are 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior outside linebacker and Louisiana Tech commitment Kaleb Arterberry, 6-4, 240 senior inside linebacker CJ Wortham, 6-3, 208-pound senior outside linebacker Tyler Jenkins, defensive lineman Sam Huett, and senior inside linebacker Kameron Wiggins.
Pearl’s top offensive players are senior wide receiver Kingi McNair (rated No. 47 and eighth best linebacker in Mississippi in the Class of 2025 by 247 Sports), 6-foot, 260-pound junior offensive lineman Reed Taylor, 6-4, 330-pound senior offensive lineman Jayden O’Hara, and sophomore running back Jayden Thomas. McNair caught 53 passes for 942 yards and seven TDs last season as a junior.
Pearl’s strength is its defense, and the Pirates haven’t allowed more than 21 points in a game this season.
Germantown scored 28 on Pearl last season but gave up 44. Look for the offensive numbers to stay the same, but Pearl won’t score as many points.
Germantown 28, Pearl 21.
In other games (winners in bold):
Callaway (1-3) at Meridian (2-2), Thursday
Bogue Chitto (2-2) at Puckett (3-1)
Brandon (3-1) at Gulfport (3-1)
Brookhaven (4-0) at Northwest Rankin (2-2)
Canton Academy (3-2) at Tri-County Academy (5-0)
Central Hinds Academy (3-2) at St. Aloysius (1-4)
Clinton (2-2) at South Panola (3-1)
Clinton Christian (2-4) at Winston Academy (3-2)
East Rankin Aca. (1-5) at Amite School Center (0-5)
Greenville St. Joseph (5-1) at Madison St. Joseph (1-2)
Hillcrest Christian (1-4) at Ben’s Ford, La. (4-1)
Jackson Prep (5-0) at Evangelical Christian, Tenn. (3-1)
Lanier (4-0) at Jim Hill (0-4), Hughes Field
Leake Central (1-3) at Velma Jackson (2-1)
Madison Central (3-1) at Warren Central (2-2)
Nesboba Central (1-3) at Canton (3-1)
Park Place Christian (3-2) at Humphries Aca. (4-1)
Pelahatchie (2-2) at Morton (3-1)
Pisgah (3-1) at Richland (1-3)
Provine (0-4) at Terry (4-0)
Ridgeland (3-1) at Murrah (4-0), South Jackson Field
St. Andrew’s (2-2) at McLaurin (2-2) .
